The invention relates to a motor-vehicle trunk door equipped with a novel hinge system provided with an articulated arm and a sliding arm.
Most motor-vehicle trunk doors are equipped with hinges articulated on substantially horizontal pins, and they are opened by an upward rotational movement.
There are also known vehicles, generally of the utility type, which are equipped with a sliding door, the door being guided by a pair of lower and upper rails, each cooperating with rollers mounted on an arm, which itself is articulated on the door (European Patent A 401081).
The invention relates to a new hinge system for a motor-vehicle trunk door wherein the trunk door can be moved from closed position to an open position in which it is disposed along a rear fender of the vehicle.
More particularly, the invention relates to a motor-vehicle trunk door articulated at one of the ends of a first arm mounted pivotally at its other end around a vertical lateral pin integral with the chassis, characterized in that it is shifted from a closed position to an open position, substantially perpendicular to the said closed position, by means of the first arm, which has curved shape, and of a second arm, one end of which is fixed to the said door, while the other end is mounted pivotally on a slide (11) mounted in a guide rail.
According to one embodiment, the rail has the shape of an elbow, with a first portion oriented obliquely relative to the plane of symmetry of the vehicle and extending from an interior point of the vehicle floor to a point situated near the middle of the rear of the vehicle, and with a second portion extending from the said rear middle point, substantially parallel to the lower edge of the cutout of the trunk door, toward the side on which the said vertical lateral pin is mounted.
The first arm has curved shape such that, when this arm pivots around its vertical lateral pin, its concave part substantially fits the rear fender of the vehicle body, in the position corresponding to the fully open door.
The function of this arm is to move the trunk door from its closed position to its fully open position, in which the door is disposed along one of the rear fenders of the vehicle. For this purpose the curved arm must be able to pivot by an angle of at least 180xc2x0, preferably by about 190 to 200xc2x0.
The function of the second arm is to control the kinematics of the door during pivoting of the first arm. In the absence of this second arm, the door, which is articulated at the other end of the first arm opposite the pivoting pin thereof, could be oriented in undesirable manner and, in particular, could bump against the rear fender of the vehicle.
To this end, the second arm has such a length and the guide rail has such a shape that, during the initial stage of opening of the door, they cause the door to be shifted mainly in a direction substantially transverse to itself, after which they then make the door turn by about 90xc2x0 to ensure that it will be aligned along one of the rear fenders of the vehicle without damaging the vehicle body.
The door can be opened and closed manually or else by means of an electric motor, which ensures pivoting of the curved arm around its lateral vertical pin integral with the chassis.